Priestley Lecture outstanding success

Posted on Tuesday 29th January 2013

On Wednesday 23rd January 2013, the School of Education welcomed Dr Anthony Seldon as its guest speaker for the 2013 annual Priestley Lecture. The event which attracted over 300 staff, students, alumni, partnership schools and external guests was introduced by Professor James Arthur, Head of the School of Education. Dr Seldon, Britain’s best known Headmaster delivered a 45 minute speech addressing ‘Why the development of character is more important than exam results in schools’ in an open letter to ‘M and M’ – Michael Gove MP, Minister for Education and Sir Michael Wilshaw, Chief Inspector of Schools. A Q & A session followed on a variety of issues including the importance of character in the workplace and community as well as schools.

Professor James Arthur, Head of the School of Education said:

'This year’s Priestley Lecture is the most successful for many years. We would like to thank Anthony for agreeing to deliver this prestigious lecture and for giving up his time so that so many people could hear him speak about such an important topic.'

Dr Seldon featured in The Times, Daily Mail, Mail on Sunday, Daily Express, The Telegraph and on Radio 2, Radio 4 and ITV central ahead of his lecture which was filmed by Hat Trick Productions. The event was coordinated by the School of Education, the Jubilee Centre for Character and Values and the College of Social Sciences Marketing Team.